JPH0157004B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a container aligning device, and more particularly, to a container aligning device that can align containers supplied in an upright or inverted state in the same posture.

As a container alignment device that rotates only the inverted containers out of the containers supplied from above in an upright or inverted state, and drops the upright containers downward as it is to align all the containers in an upright state.
It includes a support member that receives containers supplied from above, and a container push-out member that pushes out the containers supported by the support member in the lateral direction. When the container is supported by the container, it can be pushed out as it is, and when the container is supported in an inverted state, the opening of the container is held by the recess provided in the support member, so that the container can be pushed out while being inverted. A device in which all the containers are aligned in one direction in this way has been known for some time.

In such a conventional container alignment device, unless the body diameter of the container is approximately 1/2 or less of the height, the container will be placed between the top surface of the recessed part of the support member that holds the mouth of the container and the tip of the container pushing member. In addition, since the container is pushed out and turned over, there is a need for a space in front of the container passageway in which the container can rotate, resulting in an increase in the size of the device. .

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and includes a container support member that supports the bottom surface of a container supplied from above, which is configured to be swingable, and a support member that supports an inverted container. The container is configured to be able to engage with the opening of the container when swinging, and to direct the circumferential surface of the container into the channel when the container is moved outside the container passage as the support member swings. By arranging a pressing container holding member, an inverted container is inverted because its upper part is pressed while its mouth is engaged with a supporting member, and an upright container is prevented from engaging with a supporting member. Since the containers do not fit together, they can be pressed by the holding member and dropped from the support member in the same position, and all the containers can be aligned in an upright state, so the space for reversing the containers can be reduced. Moreover, the present invention provides a container alignment device that can be applied regardless of the shape of the container.

The present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments. Figure 1 shows a container transfer mechanism 1 connected to the upstream side.
1 shows the entire container aligning device for aligning and discharging containers supplied by a container. The container transfer mechanism 1 has a conventionally well-known configuration, and is arranged to be inclined below a hopper for storing containers, and transfers containers in the hopper one by one in a plurality of rows to the chute 2.
Drop the supply inside. The container supplied at this time is
The containers are arranged in a plurality of rows in the longitudinal direction by the transfer mechanism 1 so as not to be placed sideways or piled up, but some containers have mouths facing upwards and others facing downwards. These containers are aligned in the same direction by a container alignment device described below.

A chute 2 is connected to the upper end of the container transfer mechanism 1. This chute 2 is container A
Side plates 3 and 4 are arranged vertically at intervals slightly wider than the outer diameter of the container A, and partition members 5 (partition members 5) are provided at equal intervals between the side plates 3 and 4 to divide the passage 2a of the container A into a plurality of rows. (see Figure 2). Each container passage 2a of this chute 2 is provided with a stopper 6 which appears and retracts into the chute 2 to stop and release the container A falling within the chute 2.
The stopper 6 is swung by a cylinder 7 about a shaft 8 to appear and retract into the chute 2, and when moving forward, it presses the side of the container A to stop the container from falling, and when moving backward, it releases the container A and allows it to fall. Reference numeral 9 denotes a container alignment device disposed below the stopper 2, which inverts only the inverted containers out of a mixture of upright or inverted containers and leaves the upright containers as they are. Align all the containers in an upright position by dropping them. The containers A arranged in this manner are discharged by a container discharge device 11 via a discharge chute 10. This container discharging device 11 is composed of a support wall 12, a screw 13, and a conveyor 14 disposed below them.
The container dropped from the supporting wall 12 and the screw 1
It is dropped into the gap formed by each pocket of 3, and the rotation of the screw 13 and the conveyor 1
4, the containers A are discharged in a line. Further, the discharge chute 10 has a cylinder 1.
A stopper 16 is provided which is retracted into the chute 10 by means of a stopper 16, which stops the container A falling within the chute 10 and then releases the container A in synchronization with the rotation of the screw 13. It is made so that it can be dropped and smoothly dropped into each pocket of the screw 13.

Next, the container alignment device 9 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. 17 is a container support member that receives and supports the container A supplied from above. This support member 17 has an opening B of the container A in the center.
The annular convex portion 19 on the outer periphery of the concave portion 18 is provided with a concave portion 18 capable of accommodating the container A.
It is sized to support. Therefore, the mouth part B of the container A supplied in an inverted state is in the concave part 18.
The bottom C of the container A, which is fitted into the container A and is in an erect state, is supported by the upper surface of the annular convex portion 19. The support members 17 are disposed in a plurality of rows of container passages 2a provided in a divided manner within the chute 2, and are connected to the rotating shaft 2 by an L-shaped mounting member 20 attached to the bottom surface.
It is fixed at 1. A swing arm 22 is provided at one end of the rotating shaft 21, and is swinged by a piston rod 24 of a cylinder device 23 connected to its tip. Therefore, as the piston rod 24 moves back and forth, the swinging arm 22, the rotating shaft 21, and the mounting member 2
0, the support member 17 is swung from a horizontal position to a substantially upright position. 25 is the container support member 1
This is a presser plate disposed on the upper part of the swing direction side (right side in FIG. 1) of No. 7. This presser plate 25 is rotatable about a shaft 26, and is always urged inward to the chute 2 by a spring 28 elastically loaded via a fixing member 27 provided above the shaft 26. There is.
A stopper member 29 that is longer than the width of the presser plate 25 is attached to the lower part of the presser plate 25. When the stopper member 29 comes into contact with the partition member 5 of the chute 2 and stops, the presser plate 25 is It is configured so as not to protrude into the container passage 2a of the chute 2.

The operation of the container alignment device 9 having the above configuration will be explained. The container A stopped by the stopper 6 is released and falls. The container support member 17 is operated in synchronization with the stopper 6, and when the container A is dropped from the stopper 6, each container passage 2a
It is positioned horizontally inside to receive and support the falling container A. Thereafter, the cylinder device 23 is activated and the support member 17 starts to swing. Regarding the movement of the container A due to the swinging of the support member 17 at this time, the fourth
As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a case where the container A is supplied in an inverted state, and the opening B of the container A is accommodated in the recessed part 18 of the support member 17 (the fourth
Diagram a. Then, when the support member 17 swings slightly,
The mouth B of the container A engages with the inner circumferential surface of the annular convex portion 19 and is moved in the direction in which the support member 17 swings.
At this time, the holding plate 25 is pushed back by the circumferential surface of the container A, but the urging force of the spring 28 presses the bottom part C of the container A inward into the container passage 2a, causing the container A to tilt (first Figure 4 b). When the support member 17 further swings, the container A becomes even more inclined (FIG. 4c), and finally rolls over (FIG. 4d). In this state where the container A is overturned, the pressing plate 25 is released from pressing the circumferential surface of the container A and returns to its original state. Thereafter, when the support member 17 moves further and disengages from the mouth B, the container A is moved to the bottom C.
The container is inverted until it faces downward, and then placed into the discharge chute 10 (FIG. 4e). Note that this discharge chute 10 is inclined outward so as to smoothly receive the container A. On the other hand, FIG. 5 shows a case where container A is supplied in an upright state, and container A
The bottom C of is supported by the upper surface of the annular convex portion 19 of the support member 17 (FIG. 5a). Next, support member 1
When the container 7 swings, the container A is not engaged with the support member 17 and is simply placed thereon, so it is pressed by the holding plate 25 and slides on the support member 17, causing the container A to slide on the support member 17. The relative position is displaced (Fig. 5b). When the support member 17 further swings, the bottom part C of the container A comes off the upper surface of the support member 17 and falls into the discharge chute 10 with the bottom part C facing downward.

In this way, by rotating the supporting member 17 while pressing the circumferential surface of the container A with the presser plate 25, it is possible to rotate the support member 17 regardless of the shape of the container A and in the limited space in the container passage 2a. All the containers A can be aligned in the same direction by inverting the containers A that are inverted and dropping the containers A that are upright.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the disadvantage of the conventional method that the container may get caught depending on the shape of the container. This has the effect of saving money and downsizing the entire device. Moreover, in the present invention, the container support member is constituted by a central recess capable of accommodating the mouth of a container supported in an inverted state, and an outer edge convex portion surrounding this and allowing the bottom of the container to rest against it. Therefore, in a vertical container passage,
In addition to receiving and supporting containers that fall through this path without causing them to hit unevenly, when the container supporting member swings, the containers that are placed and supported can be smoothly reversed or passed upright by the cooperation with the container holding member. It has the effect of causing

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view showing the entire device, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views taken along lines - and - in FIG. 1, respectively. , FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 are explanatory views showing, over time, how containers in an inverted state and containers in an upright state are aligned, respectively. A... Container, B... Container opening, 1... Supply mechanism (container transfer mechanism), 2a... Container passage, 17... Container support member, 23... Swinging mechanism, 25... Container pressing member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substantially vertical container passageway that guides falling containers, a feeding mechanism that supplies containers in an upright or inverted state into this container passageway, and a feeding mechanism that is located within the container passageway and supplies containers from above. A container support member that supports the lower surface, a swing mechanism that swings the container support member, and a swing mechanism that is movable forward and backward on one side of the container passage above the container support member, and that is movable back and forth as the support member swings. and a container holding member that moves outward while resisting movement of the container outward to press the circumferential surface of the container toward the inside of the container passage, and the container support member is in an inverted state. 1. A container alignment device comprising a central recess capable of accommodating the mouth of a supported container, and an outer edge convex surrounding the central recess and allowing the bottom of the container to abut and rest thereon.